Over the Wall of Silence

16 Over the Wall of Silence

You have a certain set of ideas about what is appropriate in this situation, and students have quite different ones. That’s all it really comes down to. Now, the next question is: what can be done about this? How can we all get out of that deadlock? T HE MAGIC OF TESTING This is where the magic of conversation testing comes in. Hold on a minute. Testing, you say? How last century! But just hear us out. The word test is rather taboo in some circles these days, since it often conjures up restrictive, old-fashioned attitudes to teaching. But the fact remains that it is still the strongest motivation for stu dents in any discipline. All students, and especially Japanese students, have been conditioned to respond to the concept of a test, since it has been a basic part of their education since the beginning. As a language teacher, you can harness this power and make it work to your advantage. On top of that, tests can have very powerful, posi tive effects, especially in the context of the Japanese classroom. We believe they are actually liberating . Here is why. When you question a student in front of the class with no reward, you are in fact asking them to take a huge risk. You are basically appealing only to their generosity. You’re sending the message “Let’s work together, please, …. pretty please.” But a stu dent can always turn you down. The eyes of the class are on them, and the invisible pressure of the group weighs on their shoulders. Having grown up in a culture where silence can be a signal to the teacher to “try the next person”, it’s all too easy for a student to sit in silence.